Costing your project

For most research funding applications you will be asked to provide detailed information about the resources you will need and the cost of these resources.

Once you have been assigned an internal reference number, the University's Finance department will assist you with a costing- please contact the Research Funding Office in the first instance. Finance will not be able to provide a costing without an internal reference number.

The University will provide you with the Full Economic Cost (fEC) of your project. A short guide to what fEC means can be found here.

All bid for external funding requires an official costing and a sign-off by Finanace prior to submission.

Many funders will want to know the fEC, although this does not mean that they will fund all these costs. The Research Councils, for example, will pay 80% of full economic costs; most charities will only pay the direct costs of the project and will not pay any indirect costs, i.e. the University's overheads. You need to be clear about what costs a funder will cover and set this against the full economic cost of the project. This will allow you and others to make a fully informed decision about whether the project is viable and about any adjustments that might need to be made to the project resources.

Finance will also be able to advise as to whether costs should be inclusive of VAT.